


A Study of the Reclamation of Souls From the Halls by a Soulmate

by LadyBrooke



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Faux Academic Study, Soulmate's Touch Can Turn Dead Soulmate Back Alive but at a Price, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-11 10:52:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11146938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBrooke/pseuds/LadyBrooke
Summary: Being an abstract of a full study of the above, specifically concerning the case of Gildor Inglorion and Maglor Fëanorion and the effects of the Doom of Mandos and the limitations of the Valar on Noldorin custom.





	A Study of the Reclamation of Souls From the Halls by a Soulmate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunarium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/gifts).



Originally published Fourth Age 342.

Published in partial form here with amended errata concerning the case of Gildor Inglorion and Maglor Fëanorion Fourth Age 456.

 

**Notes Concerning The Noldor:**

Only once after the coming of the Noldor to Valinor has there been a case of a Noldo trying to retrieve their soulmate from the Halls by touch. Following the knowledge given by Lord Námo that souls that are retrieved in such a manner are thereafter kept from entering the Halls regardless of Námo’s will and may only be returned to their previous body, no matter how damaged and that the soulmate retrieving them is also kept from the Halls, the previous practices fell out of favor. The most notable incidents of this refusal came in the cases of Míriel and later Finwë, where no attempt was made to reclaim the soul via touch and instead it was laid at the hands of Námo to restore souls when they were ready to return to life.

Later notable cases of Noldorin soulmates deaths largely involve those who died after the rebellion. While speculation on whether the choice would be different in cases where both elves involved was banned from returning to Valinor while alive can be interesting, it must be noted that there is no case of this happening aside from the one discussed later in this article. It has not been conclusively determined whether this was always a matter of chance or if it was an affirmation of the values taken from Valinor in some cases.

The author casts no judgment on the choices of the Avari and other dark elves to reclaim their soulmates using such methods, in spite of the fact that they cannot then enter the Halls. If they have chosen to not enter Valinor, and souls cannot be reborn out of the Halls except into Valinor, there is a certain amount of logical sense in choosing to reclaim a soulmate via touch. Judgment in these cases serves no purpose, and impedes our understanding of what motivates such actions.

 

**The Case of Gildor Inglorion and Maglor Fëanorion**

While the circumstances of Maglor’s death remain unclear, it is known to have occurred at some point after the death of his brother Maedhros and before the War of the Ring, according to sources compiled and brought with the returning elves at the end of the Third Age as well as reborn elves from the Halls.

It is believed that at some point following the throwing of the Silmaril into the sea, Gildor sought out and reunited with Maglor and attempted to convince him that they should remain together. It is unknown what happened following this suspected conversation, however it can be conclusively stated that Gildor must have been with his lover at the point of his death.

This has been reconstructed on the basis of the following:

  1. Several now reborn elves have reported that following the arrival of Maedhros in the Halls and preceding the arrival of the elves killed in the War of the Ring, Maglor briefly appeared in the Halls and then disappeared from them within a short period of time. Further narrowing of the time period is impossible, due to differences in how time is perceived within the Halls.
  2. Due to the presence of his brothers and father within the Halls until and after this point, his disappearance cannot be linked to the Oath in the sense of it being unfulfilled and dooming him to Everlasting Darkness.
  3. Multiple sources attest to appearances of Maglor in Middle-earth during the Third Age. In order for this to be true, it is necessary for him to have been returned to life in Middle-earth. Though these sources have not been proven true, review of them by elves close to Maglor at various points in his life affirm that there are multiple points of similarity between the elf described in them and Maglor himself.



The simplest solution for the above is that at some point following the reunion of Gildor and Maglor, Maglor died for unknown reasons, briefly entered the Halls, and was reclaimed by Gildor after a short period of time via touch.

While Gildor has largely refused to speak about his soulmate following his return to Valinor, there is one statement that supports the assumptions in the above. When asked if he would appeal to Námo for Maglor’s return in the event of Maglor entering the Halls or seek entrance to the Halls himself, Gildor stated that Maglor would not enter the Halls at any point nor could Gildor himself enter.  

While there are other proposed explanations for such a belief, the most rational explanation remains the aforementioned theory that Maglor died, was reclaimed by Gildor, and neither of them are now able to enter the Halls because of it.

 

**Errata:**

In  Fourth Age 440, Gildor Inglorion admitted publicly that he had reclaimed Maglor Fëanorion’s soul following his death in Second Age 120 affirming the earlier theory about the reasons for Maglor’s appearance and disappearance from the Halls turning that time period.

This statement followed several appeals from members of the Noldor Royal Family to know if the above theory was true, and if so, why Gildor had done such a thing.

When asked, Gildor confirmed that he had done so and stated that at the time it had seemed to be the best solution. Neither of them was at the point permitted to take a ship to Valinor, and if Gildor had been permitted to join a ship, it was his belief that Maglor would be kept in the Halls for all eternity making reuniting in Valinor impossible. Therefore, he also believed the logical decision for remaining with his soulmate would be to reclaim him in that manner, even if neither of them would then be capable of entering the Halls.

Upon further questioning, he then confirmed that in hindsight he regretted such a move, because he had eventually been forced to take ship to Valinor himself. Maglor is still banned from entering these lands in such a manner which when combined with the lack of entrance to the Halls results in a de facto ban on entrance to Valinor, barring any future reunion of the two as long as circumstances remain the same. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this! It was fun to write, though modern day academic style guides sadly lack a section on "How to refer to elves with Tolkien style names". ;p
> 
> While it wouldn't fit at the end (because Errata 2 would then have been "So Maglor showed up on a ship one day, guess they got around that problem"), I do imagine a happy ending for them eventually.


End file.
